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WORD STUDY OF ‘PLEASANT’ IN PSALM 133
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A Paper
Presented to
Dr. Ronald B. Allen
Dallas Theological Seminary
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In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Course
BE109OL
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by
Carlton Kevin Perry
July 2016
WORD STUDY OF ‘PLEASANT’ IN PSALM 133
I.
Etymology
A.
The word “pleasant” in the New American Standard Updated
Edition Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible is used 33 times. Of these 33
times, the majority of these occurrences are in Psalms (5) and Proverbs
(7). The Hebrew word for “pleasant” in Psalm 133:1 is naim. The verbal
root of naim is naem, which is number 5276 in the New American
Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries. The basic definition of
this verbal root is to be pleasant, sweet, delightful, lovely or to surpass in
beauty.
B.
Basic spellings and meaning of the verbal root in other Semitic
languages
1. In Phoenician the root has been found to mean good.
2. In Arabic it is spelled na’ima and means be plentiful, easy,
pleasant. It is also spelled an`ama which means show gracious
favor toward.
3. In Ethiopic it is spelled `addama and means be pleasant.
4. In Old Aramaic the root is used to mean my darling or my songs.
5.
C.
In Ugaritic literature the word is commonly used to mean good.
Hebrew synonyms for naim with their meaning
1. Nō`am: pleasantness, beauty, kindness, favor
2. Na`amān: pleasantness
3. Man`ammîm: delicacies, dainties
4. Tob: to be pleasing or good
5. Chemdah: desire, delight, beautiful
6. Mathoq: to be sweet or pleasant
7. Yatab: to be good, well, glad or pleasing
8. Chalaq: to be smooth
9. Chamad: to desire, take pleasure in
10. Arab: to be sweet or pleasing
D. The word for for “pleasant” in Psalm 133:1 is the Hebrew word naim
which is from the verbal root word naem. This verbal root means to be
pleasant and the adjective form means pleasant, delightful, lovely or
beautiful. An examination of other Semitic languages shows that the word
is most commonly used in a positive sense to convey a favorable
disposition or pleasantness. Of note is the Old Aramaic occurrence which
conveys a sense of special favor meaning my darling. The related words
are always found to mean something good or delightful.
II.
Biblical Usage of naim
A. Sample usages of naim found in scripture (ESV)
1. Job 36:11 - “If they listen and serve him, they complete their
days in prosperity, and their years and pleasantness.”
2. Psalm 16:6 - “The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places,
indeed I have a beautiful inheritance.”
3. Psalm 135:3 – “Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing to his
name for it is pleasant.”
4. Psalm 147:1 – “Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to
our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.”
5. Proverbs 22:18 - “For it will be pleasant if you keep them within
you, if all of them are ready on your lips.”
6. Proverbs 23:8 – “You will vomit up the morsels that you have
eaten, and waste your pleasant words.”
7. Proverbs 24:4 – “by knowledge the rooms are filled with all
precious and pleasant riches.”
8.
2 Samuel 23:1- “Now these are the last words of David: The
oracle of David, the son of Jesse, the oracle of the man who was
raised on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet
psalmist of Israel.”
9. Psalm 81:2 – “Raise a song; sound the tambourine, the sweet
lyre with the harp.”
10. 2 Samuel 1:23 – “Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely! In life
and in death they were not divided; they were swifter than
eagles; they were stronger than lions.”
11. Psalm 16:11- “You make known to me the path of life; in your
presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures
forevermore.”
12. Song of Solomon 1:16 – “Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved,
truly delightful.”
B. Scriptural occurrences of naim in the book of Psalms
1. Psalm 16:6 - In this passage there is a synonymous parallelism
of “pleasant places” with the term “beautiful inheritance.” The
blessing of God compare to the best possible inheritance.
2. Psalm 16:11 – God brings life, joy and pleasure. All three of
these terms are ways of speaking of the blessing of God for His
people.
3. Psalm 81:2 – While there is no direct parallelism that might give
context to the meaning, the overall sense of this text is a positive
context of praising God via song.
4. Psalm 135:3 – The term is used here in then context of praising
the LORD. There is synonymous parallelism between “for the
LORD is good” and “for it is pleasant.” The word for “good”
here is tob which is a synonym for naim.
5. Psalm 147:1 – Again in the context of praising the LORD, there
is a synonymous parallelism between “For it is good” and “for it
is pleasant.” The word for “good” is again tob.
C. The most significant usage of a synonym for naim that occurs in the
context of Psalms is the word tob. In the verbal root form this word means
to be pleasing or good. As an adjective, as it is used in Psalm 135:3 and
147:1, tob means pleasant agreeable, or good.
III.
Based on the information uncovered in researching the etymology and
biblical usage of the word naim, it appears well founded to say that the
etymological data is helpful and does indeed affirm the stated definition of the
term as pleasant. The contextual clues of Psalm 135:3 and 147:1 are perhaps
of the greatest help in discerning this meaning. These Psalms along with 133
are in book 5 of the psalter and carry a heavy emphasis on praising the LORD.
Within these Psalms are very clear examples using tob as a synonym for naim
via parallelism. This word tob also shows up in Psalm 133 alongside naim in
describing the unity of gathering together with brother to praise the LORD. It
is again noted that tob and naim are used together in the context of praise.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Brown, Francis, Samuel Rolles Driver, and Charles Augustus Briggs. Enhanced Brown-DriverBriggs Hebrew and English Lexicon. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977.
Harris, R. Laird, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke, eds. Theological Wordbook of the
Old Testament. Chicago: Moody Press, 1999.
Thomas, Robert L., The Lockman Foundation. New American Standard Exhaustive
Concordance of the Bible: Updated Edition. Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc.,
1998.
Thomas, Robert L. New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries : Updated
Edition. Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc., 1998.
VanGemeren, Willem, ed. New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology & Exegesis.
Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1997.